Native American Jewelry

Even before the Europeans stepped on American soil, Native Americans were already proficient jewelers. They were making jewelry as part of their religious expressions and as adornment for their body. The popular base materials of the native craftsmen for jewelry construction were amber, turquoise, copper and possibly the most famous of them all is the purest forms of silver which is sterling.

Pure or sterling silver wasn’t used significantly not until it was introduced by the Spanish to the natives in the early 1800s together with more advance methods of metalworking.  Prior to sterling silver, the natives used the “German silver” – it is a mixture of shiny metals comprised mainly of zinc, nickel and copper.  German silver can be considered as an inferior product compared to purer and much expensive sterling silver.

Silver jewelry has been one of the favorite of since its discovery.  It was proven to be versatile and can be formed to almost anything imaginable.  It has been used for aesthetic and functional purposes.  Silver was used to make flatware for the table and armors for protection of soldiers during battles.  Over time, silver has been utilized to make decorative arts, dental fillings, coins, jewelry and more.

The Navajos were the first among the tribes to use sterling silver in smithing techniques.  In accordance from the top recent researches, Atsidi Sani, was the first Navajo silversmith.  It was said that in 1850’s, Atsidi Sani apparently learnt blacksmithing from the Spanish and then consequently in the 1860’s move forward into silversmithing.

Native American jewelry particularly the early silver jewelries are made by craftsmen by obtaining their silver from both Mexican and U.S. minted coins.  These coins contained fine silver. The Mexican silver is easier to work with amongst the two and is favored by the Navajos. Aside from the coins though, sterling silver could be acquired from objects made of metal like silverware and candlesticks, these materials are then melted down and fashioned to their imagination.

The early purpose for the use of sterling silver in jewelry making was upon bolos, belts, and other native and traditional costumes and items used in religious ceremonies.  From these traditional crafts transpired items of jewelry which are more recognizable to those of European lineage.  Native American jewelry is now made mostly from sterling silver consisting of jewelry pieces like that of earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and the like.

Native Americans are continuously making jewelry until today. And sterling silver is still a primary material in making their crafts. Instead of superseding their traditional native crafts, they made use of more modern technology and added a few newer materials to aid in the improvement of the final products they produced.

 Nowadays, you can find modern sterling silver jewelries, ranging from sterling silver rings, sterling silver necklaces, and sterling silver bracelets being made by them.  This newer Native American jewelry is a manifestation of the influence of the ancient American artisans in making jewelry crafts such as these.  GP

Jewelry has played vital roles in ancient society and even today.  It is used to adorn and beautify ones’ self.  From simple, it became more elaborate, it now ranges from everything imaginable, rings, pendants, anklets, toe rings, nose rings, necklaces, belly buttons rings, anything!  Jewelry is once used to signify a person’s social status, now it is used to signify one’s fashion statement.  It is really fascinating how jewelry has evolved.

The Native American jewelry especially the beadworks have been passed down from generations amongst the various Indian cultures. These beads were used on their pipe bags, moccasins, belt bags, toy cradles, knife sheathes, dolls, and different items of clothing.  Each beadwork is extraordinary and unique in its own right and is greatly varied from tribe to tribe. Each tribe used different colors based largely upon the dyes accessible from the plants in the places in which they dwell.

Most of the Native American jewelry, beadwork, pottery and artwork have a special meaning.  Their crafts stand for something significant in their lives. In view of the fact that the Native American Indians were always on the move, they could not afford to have fragile things of any kind.  So they would adorn their blankets, utensils or everything else that they could with beads in the most durable way possible.

Their gift of imagination and handiwork resulted in countless beautiful pieces of jewelry and artwork created hundreds of years ago. Some of these pieces are now on the market for purchase and some exquisite pieces made their way in museums around the country for the world to admire and see. For us today, the beadwork is only a beautiful piece of jewelry but to them beadwork meant much more.  It was their way of life being recorded on the jewelry itself.  It was the individual’s self expression intertwined with every piece that he makes.  The history and culture of each tribe is a story in itself.

Utensils, clothing, and other devices were ornamented. It was during the mid 18th centuries that designs started to change.  Some of the tribes today who still do the art of beadwork are the Five Civilized Tribes:  Pueblo, Shoshone, Cheyenne, Lakota, Arapahoe, and a lot more. Fascinating enough, still a lot of beadwork is being made by hand by these amazing tribe’s people. These people are full of pride and they like their offspring to bear in mind the tradition of their elders from long ago.  The tradition of making Native American jewelry particularly the beadwork is one way of reminding today’s American Indians of where they came from and who they really are. 

Today, there are still a lot of people doing beadwork.  Most of them are descendants of the Native American Indians of the olden days but their spirit stays on in the generations after them.  Beadwork and other art crafts of the Native American Indians should never die. Hopefully the children and great grandchildren of the pioneers will carry on with the traditions and culture of these artworks.  GP

Native American jewelers are known for their hand-fashioned jewelry that has embedded itself equally in the American history and contemporary fashion. Native jewelry designs have been created since ancient times. Each piece of jewelry is renowned in today’s fashion because of their uniqueness in nature, natural charm and elegance. Archaeologists have discovered that Native American jewelry styles differ from tribe to tribe.

Native American jewelers make two very broad categories on their art: explicit beadwork and metalwork.  Before the coming of the Europeans, native metalwork was relatively simple, jewelries are hammered and etched from copper and formed into earrings or pendants and some were fashioned into beads. A new style arose around the 1800’s when the Hopi, Navajo, and Pueblo artists learned new methods from the Spanish. The resulting jewelry is a fusion of native designs and new techniques.

Native beadwork style comprises of fine corals, turquoise and smooth shell beads that are made into heishi necklaces. They are also made by the piecing and soaking of porcupine quills and elaborate stitching of thousand pieces of beads together.  Sometimes it is difficult to spot a piece made by a bona fide Native American jeweler. Factors like appearance, price, the materials and the authenticity guaranteed by the seller may help determine the origin of the product. Although Indian artisans create and sell practical items for souvenirs, genuine superlative Native American jewelry can be very expensive. The majority of the jewelers commonly use sterling silver matched with turquoise, shell, onyx, coral, lapis lazuli, or carnelian.

Jewelry fashioned by excellent artisans has no dithering lines or uneven designs. Superb quality pieces use stones which are finely cut and consistent in size, and fit securely into their places. Fabricated stones are badly cut, sending-off a huge amount of metal-colored glue visible amidst the stone and the metal.  Native American jewelers would always imprint their hallmark on their craft to distinguish their work.

It can not be determined when the Zunis and the Navajo learnt silversmithing, what’s certain is that the past eighty years symbolizes the Native American Jewelry’s golden age, It is deemed that one of the main factors responsible for this is the Anglo traders’ influence and their allegiance to profits and progress. This has motivated the Native American Indians and evoked in them a sense of honor and professionalism. Of course other factors such as advancement of machinery and tools and accessibility to raw materials contributed as well to what we now know as Modern Native American jewelry and crafts.

For the early people of southwest America, the most valued raw materials were turquoise and shell.  Today, a large amount of turquoise is being mined in Nevada and Colorado and then transported to the Navajo, Hopi or Zuni jewelers.  Times may have changed, and technology continued to progress but the materials used in Native American jewelry remains constant.  It is only that the designs have just become more fascinating than ever and it became more and more elaborate.  Now, people all over the world acknowledge the value, soul and heritage of Native American jewelry.  GP

Adorning and beautifying one’s self is an innate nature of man.  Ever since the prehistoric times, beaded jewelries like necklaces called heishe (refers to a shell in Santo Domingo’s language) have been around for ages.  In the southwest, shells such as clam, conch, spiky oyster shell, abalone, and mother of pearl, have been utilized in bead making and were regarded as valuable items of trade for over thousand of years.

The use of metal like silver is not an old concept even with the Native Americans. Silver has been used since early 1850’s, when Mexican silversmiths traded their silver trinkets in exchange for cattles in Navajo.  The Navajo blacksmiths on the other hand exchanged their silver-making skills for livestock of the Zuni Indians.  In 1890’s, the Hopi tribe then learnt from the Zunis the skills of silver making. Although it is important mention that the Native Americans are by no means connected with the mining of the silver.

The styles of Native American jewelry varied from tribe to tribe.  Each and every Native American Indian tribe has developed its own separate style. The Zuni Indian jewelries involve techniques and styles like that of channel inlay, mosaic, cluster, petit and needlepoint.  Various kinds of shells and stones are employed in these techniques.

The Navajo Indian jewelers are renowned for their famous squash blossom necklaces. Pieces of coral, turquoise and other semiprecious stones are used by these creative jewelry artists.  They then enclosed these materials with beads, leaf and scroll patterns set in sterling silver.  Majority of the Native American jewelries are made by the Navajos.  The use of stones like turquoise and coral, plus the use of sterling silver made the Navajo jewelry the most famous compared to the others.

The Hopi Indian Silversmiths are distinct because of their use of the overlay technique.  This technique involves setting of stones when making the jewelries.  A design is etched out on one sheet of silver and after that it is overlaid on top of a second sheet.  A darker touch is given to the background by means of oxidizing, and then the top layer needs to be polished.

On the other hand, bead jewelry is prevalent amongst the Indians of Santo Domingo.  For centuries now, bead jewelries have been made by them. Jet and coral stones, seashells, and turquoise are some of the commonly used materials in creating their jewelry. As said before, they make their jewelries with sterling silver, which is on the average a mixture of 7.5% copper and 92.5% silver.  Copper is added to the mix because pure silver is very ductile.  This is done so to give it more strength for use in jewelry making.

You can find terrific Native American jewelry especially in Southwest America.  Arizona is home to the Navajo and the Hopi tribes while New Mexico has the largest concentration of the Zuni Pueblo and Santo Domingo Indians. The arts and skills of the Native American jewelry making were handed down from generations to generations. In fact, nowadays, there are institutions and schools that teach their skills to those people who like to learn their craft.  GP

Native American jewelry is as varied and as unique as the tribes that design it. Each individual Native American tribe has its own style of jewelry making that dates back to their original origins. Native American jewelry has always been popular with non-Native Americans as well as Native Americans.

Jewelry styles were different in every American Indian tribe, but the differences were less marked than with other arts and crafts, because jewelry and the materials used for making Native American jewelry were major trade items long before European arrival in America. Those jewelry supplies and materials include beads, shells, copper, silver, ivory, amber, turquoise and other stones.

When you are looking for Native American jewelry that was actually made by Native Americans, it is the best to find a reputable dealer or buy directly from a Native American jewelry designer to make it sure that you are getting authentic Native American jewelry. Some research into the different styles of Native American jewelry by the different tribes can help you decide what type of jewelry you would be most interested in. It i important to you to have the real thing or you may want to support Native American people with your purchase.

Native American jewelry is created in two very general categories, namely, metalwork and beadwork. Prior to Europeans’ arrival, native metalwork was quite simple with hammering and etching copper into pendants or earrings and fashioning copper and silver into beads. Native American jewelry is dealed in hand-crafted American Indian jewelry that has rooted itself in both American history and current fashion.

Native American jewelry beadwork style consists of fine grinding of turquoise, coral, and shell beads smooth heishi necklaces, the soaking and piecing of porcupine quills, and the intricate stitching of thousands of beads together. Though Native Indian artisans make and sell reasonable souvenir-type items, authentic first-rate Indian jewelry can be very costly, but the price, materials, appearance, and the seller’s guarantee of authenticity may sometimes help.